The Root Cellar

As far as root cellars go, ours is pretty un-creepy. It's not a scary dungeon built into the ground or anything - it's in the far corner of our basement and is neatly painted white (which makes it easier to see all of the spiders.) It's built with sturdy shelves and even bins for root vegetables. The temperature remains a steady 50-ish degrees year round. Honestly, it's about the nicest root cellar a budding farm girl could hope for.


And, as with many places around the farm, it was filled with "treasures" left behind from the old folks that built the place. It only took an hour of digging and vacuuming and throwing away boxes full of trash to get it all straightened up and be able to take inventory.


There are hundreds of canning jars here, all shapes and sizes. There are even hundreds of rings and some boxes of lids. Now all I need to do is grow enough food and find enough time to make good use of it all.


My meager stores that remain from last year's canning season barely take up one shelf... it doesn't look like nearly as much as it did in the old house, with just the one shelving unit to store preserved goods on.


Two walls aren't shelved... there's plenty of space to experiment with wine- and beer-making, vinegar and cider making, and any other fermenting I decide to attempt in the future.... when I'm feeling a little less overwhelmed!